Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
Both sets are there more likely for the driver to choose on which he feels is best. If the driver is comfortable with the outer ones and they prove to be an improvement aerowise the will probably lose the other set. If the driver doesn't like the outer ones they probably won't use then.
ps - McLaren have had problems with mirrors breaking off at high speed over the last few seasons...
so is that mclaren mirror thing a fake..it seems real to me??
but it would be wild funny if they when to melbourne and had both of it on.hahaha..ppl would like "what in all the blue blazes were they thinkin?"..maybe the want every chance in the world to blind side the driver behind them with the glare coming of the mirror. and since they have a problem with those mirrors breaking of so often, its 4 times a chance for the mirror to hit the helmet of the driver behind. ron would be like "kimi!! you betrayed me...for that i cast you a shunder with breaking off mclaren parts..hah..let that reliability bite you back"..hahahaha
this all coming from a mclaren fan..:p
The others are still there because it is ingrained into the tub design. Its cheaper to leave them there rather than build a brand new 'tub skin' just for testing. If the new position isn't liked by the drivers I assume they will retain the current position.
A good example of one design leading the other teams by the nose. Ferrari has the outboard mirrors, so do Renault. Now, in an obvious quick change of design, McLaren are mounting the mirrors outboard and determing if they are worth the change.
If they are testing them for vision, then they already know that it has a substantial aerodynamic benefit, so now they only need to know if the drivers can see properly out of them.
Thank you Keir, interesting picture. After pondering the different mirror locations, one thing that finally came to me was the aerodynamic area the mirrors resided in. They either are closer to the driver, about the middle of the sidepod area, or located in line with the wheels, chimney, and wheel flip-ups. Now, considering how many vanes and fins and other devices are located on the chassis, this area has to be of critical importance, especially since it leads finally to the rear wing. The air is carefully directed and massaged all along the chassis, in an effort to give the rear wing optimum airflow to achieve efficiency. Moving the mirrors further outboard takes them out of this area, and into the messy place where the wheels are. To me, it seems logical that the penalty in efficient airflow is less along the wheel line, since it's already an aerodynamic disaster, and does not impact on the rear wing performance.
DaveKillens wrote:Thank you Keir, interesting picture. After pondering the different mirror locations, one thing that finally came to me was the aerodynamic area the mirrors resided in. They either are closer to the driver, about the middle of the sidepod area, or located in line with the wheels, chimney, and wheel flip-ups. Now, considering how many vanes and fins and other devices are located on the chassis, this area has to be of critical importance, especially since it leads finally to the rear wing. The air is carefully directed and massaged all along the chassis, in an effort to give the rear wing optimum airflow to achieve efficiency. Moving the mirrors further outboard takes them out of this area, and into the messy place where the wheels are. To me, it seems logical that the penalty in efficient airflow is less along the wheel line, since it's already an aerodynamic disaster, and does not impact on the rear wing performance.
I also assume because they are furthur out in a more open area the disturbed air has a better chance of 'realigning' (and does it quicker)than it would in the enclosed area inboard.
Yeah, I agree Dave the solution is exactly as you describe. After all, there is no way that the flow after the mirrors is laminar, there is no reduction in area at the rear of the mirrors so the flow must be very turbulent. Having these mirrors inline with the rear wing seems like a big 'no no' to me. I really wonder why it takes F1 teams so long to update their designs, after all Ferrari came out with these over a year ago and the aerodynamic benefit has seemed almost obvious since then.
Can mclaren get away with simply repositioning the mirrors? Surely the bodywork that follows the mirrors (flip-ups etc...) has been designed to work optimally with the current configuration of the mirrors...
Whoever got excited by pace of BMW should cool off. Honda says that BMW used wings which aren't legal according to 2007 reg. so they'll loose some of the pace as they fit legal wings once the championship starts.
Shuhei Nakamoto wrote:"I know BMW have been using a non-2007 wing (in testing) so they lose one or two tenths, but we will still be behind."
